On a solid sheet of ice near the Austrian Alps, PM learns the secrets of how to keep your car under control in difficult conditions, from the master driving instructors at Audi.

Thriving on Ice: My Austrian Crash Course in Winter Driving

Thriving on Ice: My Austrian Crash Course in Winter Driving

Is this real? I thought for the hundredth time. The sun shone bright. An army of conifers surrounded us, and a heavy layer of snow coated everything, including the craggy peaks of the Eastern Alps in the distance. Everything, that is, except the solid sheet of ice hundreds of yards long where I stood.

Along with several other journalists, I'd traveled to this frozen field outside the small Austrian ski town of Seefeld to experience Audi's quattro all-wheel-drive system while drifting, power sliding, and negotiating a fleet of supercharged 350-hp, 4.2-liter diesel A8 quattros across this icy tract. Occasionally, cross-country skiers would stop to watch.

The ice-driving program is just one of many "driving experience" classes Audi offers across Europe for anyone who wants—or, more accurately, can afford—to improve their driving skills, get to know Audi's technology, or just plain hoon. Ours was a modified version of the intensive training program, which costs around $1800 but is all-inclusive save for airfare. For a day and a half, a team of accomplished instructors guided us through icy cone exercises.

Unsurprisingly, the quattro, with its ability to shift power distribution among all four wheels, was quite advantageous on the ice. And that Eurospec engine? It's a Hoss. (Audi will be launching an A8 TDI in the States sometime in the next year.) But when the course concluded, what stuck with me most were all of the pointers that helped me successfully handle the vehicle in such terrible conditions. Here are seven handy tips to remember the next time you encounter a slippery patch of pavement.

(Editor's Note: Only one A8 was hurt during the making of this story. Yours truly was not responsible. However, many orange cones were killed by all involved.)

Hold the Steering Wheel Correctly

Hold the Steering Wheel Correctly

Unfortunately, most of us were taught incorrectly. Forget 10 and two. Your hands need to be at nine and three, and this doesn't only apply to driving in treacherous conditions, either.

Here's a simple test: Hold your hands in both positions and try rotating the wheel a full 180 degrees without adjusting your grip. At nine and three, you have a much wider range of motion than you do at 10 and two. This is important for counter-steering and reacting quickly to emergencies.

For the purpose of our class, we shut off our vehicles' Electronic Stability Programs. This made it easier to engage the car in understeer or oversteer. Oversteer is most often caused by hitting the gas or brake after you've already turned the wheel into the corner, causing the back end of the vehicle to swing out. The appropriate response is to immediately countersteer by turning the wheel in the same direction the back end swings out until you feel the car start to correct itself. The quicker you can countersteer, the faster you can regain control of the car.